This feature layer depicts townships and sections (Public Land Survey System - PLSS) within the State of Alaska. This information was compiled by, and is maintained by the Bureau of Land Management, Alaska State Office, Anchorage, Alaska.

The Public Land Survey System is a grid-based land survey system that divides land into 36-square-mile townships. Each township is 6 miles east/west and 6 miles north/south. Townships are referenced to a paricular meridian which provides the basis for the numbering system. Although the term township is used generically when referring to a 36-square-mile block, there are actually three designators that fully describe a block. Townships are numbered north/south, while ranges are numbered east/west. The meridian is also needed for a complete description For example, Township 8 North, Range 71 West, Seward Meridian identifies a 36-square-mile block that is 8 townships north of the Seward baseline and 71 ranges west of the Seward principal meridian.

Each township is further subdivided into sections, which are one square mile in area, and are numbered sequentially from 1 to 36, starting in the northeast corner of the township and proceeding in an alternating west/east and east/west direction to Section 36 in the southeast corner of the township. Below is a diagram that depicts the PLSS;